9.  On 4 February 1989 the Austrian police were informed via Interpol that on 30 January 1989 in Poquoson (Virginia, USA) E.P., a German citizen, and H.S., an Austrian citizen, had been killed and that the applicant, who at that time lived in Virginia, was suspected of having killed and robbed them. A warrant of arrest was issued against the applicant in the United States.
10.  On 5 February 1989 the applicant, who in the meantime had returned to Austria, was arrested and on 7 February 1989 was remanded in custody. The applicant remained on remand until 17 June 1992. This period was interrupted from 17 May to 6 June 1989 and from 6 February 1998 to 17 May 1989 whilst the applicant served prison sentences imposed in respect of previous convictions.
11.  Meanwhile the trial against the applicant took place before the Assizes of the Innsbruck Regional Court sitting with a jury. On 16 October 1991 the jury acquitted the applicant, but the bench of the Assize Court set aside the jury’s verdict as erroneous. A new trial against the applicant and one co-accused was held before another Assize Court of the Innsbruck Regional Court.
12.  On 17 June 1992 the Court of Assizes again acquitted the applicant. The jury answered the question as to murder and the question as to aggravated robbery with six votes of “no” and two votes of “yes”. According to the record of the jury’s deliberations, the majority of its members found the applicant not guilty as there had been discrepancies between the statements of the witnesses (“Widersprüche in den Zeugenaussagen”).
13.  On 1 October 1993 the Innsbruck Regional Court sitting with a single judge heard the applicant in private on his claim for compensation in respect of his detention on remand. The applicant, assisted by counsel, argued that the proceedings under the Criminal Proceedings Compensation Act (Strafrechtliches Entschädigungsgesetz) infringed the presumption of innocence guaranteed by Article 6 § 2 of the Convention. He referred to the Sekanina v. Austria judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (25 August 1993, Series A no.266-A). The applicant also presented fresh evidence which, in his opinion, could entirely dissipate the suspicion still subsisting against him.
14.  On 24 January 1996 a chamber of the Innsbruck Regional Court, composed of three judges, dismissed the applicant’s compensation claim. The Regional Court found that a right to compensation in the applicant’s case would require that the suspicion against him had been entirely dissipated. According to the records of the jury’s deliberations, a majority of the members had found the applicant not guilty on the grounds that there had been discrepancies between the statements of witnesses. The applicant was not acquitted because his innocence had been proven, but because he had been given the benefit of the doubt. Thus, the suspicion against the applicant had not been dissipated. As regards the applicant’s request for the taking of evidence, the Regional Court found that it was prevented from examining further evidence. It referred in this respect to the Constitutional Court’s case-law following the Sekanina judgement, according to which a fresh examination of the question of guilt in compensation proceedings following a final acquittal would be in breach of Article 6 § 2 of the Convention.
15.  On 12 February 1996 the applicant appealed against this decision. He submitted, inter alia, that the Regional Court had re-examined the Assize Court’s acquittal. However, it was no longer acceptable to rely on suspicions once an acquittal had become final.
16.  On 27 February 1996 the Innsbruck Court of Appeal, sitting in camera, dismissed the applicant’s appeal. It found that a suspicion of having committed a criminal offence is only dissipated if either the claimant’s innocence has been proven, or if all arguments supporting the suspicion against him have been refuted. The right to compensation demands that innocence be established. However, this requirement was not met in the applicant’s case. Referring to the Regional Court’s decision, the Court of Appeal found that the records of the jury’s deliberations clearly expressed the opinion of the members of the jury. In their mind various circumstances spoke against the applicant, but it had not been possible to convict him because of discrepancies between the statements of witnesses.
17.  The Court of Appeal concluded that, according to the Sekanina judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, a fresh examination of the question of guilt in the compensation proceedings following a final acquittal would have been in breach of Article 6 § 2 of the Convention, but not the refusal of compensation itself. The Regional Court had not re-examined the question of the applicant’s guilt, rather it had referred to the reasons for which the majority of the jury had voted “not guilty”, and had concluded that the suspicion against the applicant had not been dissipated.